Goa proposes curbs on social media for minors under 16; draft to be sent to Centre

PANAJI: State govt has finalised a document that identifies grounds and reasons to restrict access to social media platforms for minors under 16 across the country, said IT minister Rohan Khaunte on Wednesday. He said the document, created by the department of IT, electronics and communications, would be handed to Union IT and electronics minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Khaunte said that certain social media platforms are detrimental to children and do not bring any “dividends” to students. “We have discussed this issue with academia and industry and the document is ready. In the document, we have put forth our thoughts, what problems we are facing, what parents are facing. Under-16-year-olds have no need for Facebook, Instagram, for example. At the same time, we will see how we can promote educational tools for students where they can spend the same time on their mobile phones learning things that are useful,” he said.

Khaunte said that the document would be submitted to the Centre only after it is discussed with chief minister Pramod Sawant. States like Andhra Pradesh are also submitting recommendations along the same lines. Khaunte initially spoke about a ban on social media but has since walked back and is now recommending curbs.

He was speaking to reporters after announcing that the draft Goa AI policy would be placed in the public domain on May 4 for feedback. The draft will be available on the state portal and IT department website for 15 days so that industry players, students, and experts can share suggestions about the policy.

The draft is the result of a series of intensive deliberations with industry leaders, academia, and key stakeholders.

“We have delivered a final draft document that is both practical and ambitious. This policy needs to be implemented in every sector be it finance, tourism or governance and hence, we’re keeping it in the public domain for everybody’s inputs,” the minister said.

By focusing on Goa’s youth, the draft policy focuses on AI skilling, development of AI startups, industry and innovative ecosystems, improving govt and public services, creating infrastructure for AI and research. Under the Goa AI mission 2027, this draft policy aims to leverage local talent, develop large language models (LLMs) in Konkani and Marathi.

“By 2028, all technical graduates should be AI-certified. We need to expose children from class VI to AI. These initiatives will come in the policy,” said Khaunte.


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